Leonard Linggi Jugah, who quit as secretary-general of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) on April 22, said today that whether party president Abdul Taib Mahmud had accepted his resignation or not had nothing to do with it.

It was up to me to indicate when I want to step down and relinquish the post, he told a press conference held in his penthouse office in the family-owned Tun Jugah Building in the heart of Kuching City.

He said he had indicated to party delegates as far back as four to five years ago that he would step down from the post at the next general assembly (in June this year). This is his 26th year as the secretary-general of PBB which is seen as the backbone of the ruling Sarawak Barisan Nasional.

He said he timed his resignation two months before the triennial general assembly so that the deputy secretary-general and assistant secretaries-general would have some time to prepare for the assembly.

Linggi also resigned as the secretary-general of the Sarawak Barisan Nasional, a post he held for 15 years, on the same day.

When asked, Linggi denied there was any basis to the rumours that his decision to quit had something to do with his perceived unhappiness with the present state BN top leadership.

Ordinary member

Although no longer part of the PBB leadership hierarchy, Linggi said he would remain an ordinary member of the party and attend the forthcoming general assembly as an observer. He is not head of any party branch or division.

He said he planned on being more active in the Tun Jugah Foundation where he is the chairperson and the Sarawak Dayak Cultural Foundation where he is managing trustee to promote and preserve the Dayak culture, education and social development. Both foundations are funded by donations from Linggi's family businesses.

It's one way we are paying back to the community, said Linggi.

Linggi, 62, a lawyer by profession, comes from a wealthy Iban family with diverse business interests ranging from timber to banking, property development, shipping and insurance. He was also formerly a state assemblyperson for Pelagus, member of Parliament for Kapit and held a state ministerial post in the early 1970s.

His father, the late Tun Temenggong Jugah, was the last of the paramount chiefs of the Iban and a former Federal Minister of Sarawak Affairs. The RM60 million 12-storey Tun Jugah Building, a shopping and office block within Kuching's golden triangle area, was built in memory of his father, one of the signatories of the Malaysia Agreement in 1963.